I've never been to a university that didn't run tutorials or practicals alongside lectures. Given a flipped classroom doesn't have lectures it can only be cheaper than the standard method, since the tutorials exist in either model.

> I believe the fallout from lectures and university in general are just a part of the design.

Just no. There are so many factors that go into students dropping out, many of which are outside their control (e.g. needing to support parents). There is a lot of research on this.